The iPhone 4S Assistant: Artificial Intelligence for the masses?
After all the hoopla and mostly-unjustified disappointment over Apple’s release of the new iPhone 4S – instead of the highly anticipated and mythical iPhone 5 – tech journalists are beginning to dissect the most whimsical moment of the Apple product announcement and conference. When the iPhone 4S was introduced by Apple executive Phil Schiller, the media crowd assembled at the company’s Town Hall auditorium in Cupertino was less than enthusiastic in its applause. But then Schiller ceded the stage to Scott Forstall, a senior VP at Apple, who started talking to his iPhone 4S, and it responded accordingly. As the attendees watched and listened to Forstall seemingly carrying on a conversation with his iPhone, the specter of being let down by the lack of iPhone 5 quickly dissipated.
When Scott Forstall asked the new iPhone 4S “Do I need a raincoat today?”, the smartphone confidently replied in a slightly robotic but clear female voice: “It sure looks like rain today.”
Talking on a smartphone is one thing, but talking TO a smartphone and receiving a highly logical and coherent answer is something different. When the iPhone 4S hits stores on October 14, it will ship with Siri, a cool new artificial intelligence (AI) feature demonstrated during Apple’s product announcement. Siri isn’t exactly new; it was once available from iTunes App Store, and it allowed users to ask questions in natural, everyday language. Initially Siri could mostly handle giving information about restaurants and movie theaters. The questions posed to Siri were routed through a network in which they were analyzed for improving the app’s AI.
While some Siri users were excited about the app’s potential, others thought Siri was just a fancy version of GOOG-411, or the way-ahead of its time Portico service from General Magic. But now Siri has matured into Assistant, perhaps the most serious AI project undertaken by Apple in recent years. The voice-controlled Assistant can do a lot more than just look up what’s playing at the local movie theater. Apple’s mobile Assistant will allow iPhone 4S users to control many iOS functions with their voices. From opening apps to composing messages, and from searching the web to setting appointments; the iPhone 4S will only scratch the surface of what Apple has in store in terms of AI development.
In the hands of millions of users, Apple’s mobile Assistant will become a more efficient and knowledgeable AI because it has the capacity to constantly learn. Voice-controlled devices are practically a dime a dozen these days, but they aren’t widely used. The Opera Internet browser, for example, can be controlled by voice. Voice-activated dialing is a feature present in even the most basic Nokia cell phones. Android-powered cell phones already feature a fair amount of voice-control. What was lacking from voice control, until now, was the AI implementation. Now that Apple is bringing AI to the masses with its mobile Assistant for the iPhone 4S, advanced technologies such as speech recognition and smart automation will no longer be confined to the realm of science fiction.
Harold Fanny writes for many blogs on topics related to health, finance, entertainment and technology. He has recently written a guest post on the topic of car insurance and online quote comparison services such as Kanetix.
Check Out These Too:
- Apple iPad 2 There has been a lot of speculation over the past few months as to what products Apple will have lined up for their 2011 conference in January. Apple has a…
- How to get an older iPhone for a low price Now that the iPhone 4S has been released and unveiled by Apple, many of the other iPhone models will be in a lot less demand which is great if you…
- Apple Planning to Drop 30 Pin Connector The iPhone 5 is still one of the mysterious upcoming iOS devices but as the release gets closer and closer we're beginning to learn more and more about what the…
- How to figure out what Apple has in store with the iPhone 5 There are so many rumours regarding the iPhone 5 at the moment that is expected to be released by Apple in the next couple of months, that you might not…
- Apple iPad 2 to have large speaker and camera There have been a lot of rumours circulating on the internet as to the release of the iPad 2 device from Apple next year. Of course, Apple hasn’t actually confirmed…
- What to expect from Apple Every year, Apple brings out a whole new range of products for their consumers and 2011 is expected to be no different. There are a lot of products that have…
- iPhone 4s Release Date is Confirmed iPhone 4S Release Date is Confirmed It is finally official, after months of waiting, the iPhone 4S release date has finally been made official by Apple at the latest Apple…
- How To Use Cloth and Organize Your Wardrobe In iPhone? Do you want to arrange the outfits you wear in different categories and keep those organized in your wardrobe? You don’t need an assistant or wardrobe adviser, but the popular…
- Apple Hires Sales Staff for iPhone 5 release The rumours that Apple is planning to release the iPhone 5 this September keeps on growing and now, there has been word that Apple has been looking to hire sales…
- Apple in iPad Trademark Dispute Apple is well known for many electronic products that have revolutionised the industry and one of the most recent products that Apple has released is the iPad device. This is…
- Freemium applications vs. paid applications - which one… If you are "old" enough to hold an iPhone in the hand then surely you know that nothing in this world is free. Whenever a company promotes a free product,…
- Acer Boss Quits Because of Apple iPad Tablet The boss of the computer manufacturing company; Acer, has resigned from his position at the top of the company. Acer is the second largest computer manufacturer in the world after…
- Download iPhone OS 4.0 Beta The people over at Apple sure have been busy. First the recent release of the iPad, and now the iPhone OS 4.0 Beta. The iPhone OS 4.0 Beta is firmware…
- iPhone Rumors Are Over: Here is the newest iPhone Not just the rumors but the looooooong wait! The newest iPhone is here, but it's not the iPhone 5 but the iPhone in between. It's the iPhone 4s. The iPhone…
- iPhone 5 Scam : Beware on iPhone 5 Pre-order Scam iPhone 5 Scam Apple is plan to announce their next generation iphone 5 on this Tuesday Morning at at Apple’s Headquarters in Cupertino. While so many people worldwide waiting for…
- Mac App Store set to come in January The Apple app store has been a huge hit with the iPhone and iPod touch devices and it now has more than 200,000 applications in which users can download with…
- Apple Scales Back iPad 2 Orders Apple has once again reduced the amount of parts and the number of iPad 2 devices that they're ordering from the manufacturer in Asia. This could indicate multiple things but…
- Apple Release New iPod Touch 4th Generation Update: Now apple itouch fans waiting for news and rumor on ipod touch 5g release date. Yesterday, at Apple press conference, Apple announced the release of a few new products…
- Why Does Nokia Sell More Phones Than Apple? If you compare Nokia and Apple you would naturally think that Apple and its iPhone is more popular than Nokia. You would also have to reconsider once you looked at…
- iPhone Nano makes its appearance again among rumors After a period of rumors about a supposed new iPad Mini and iPhone 5 we are coming back to a product less likely to be produced comparing to the 2…
- Phil Schiller Apple Senior Vice President Favorite iPhone… Phil Schiller, the man who took the over the helm when Steve Jobs was out on leave this past year, recently talked to the New York Times about his favorite…
- How to Find a Lost iPhone with Google Assistant? Finally, you can use Google Assistant to find a lost iPhone. How to that? Lets find the answer in this article. With the help of a smart speaker or other…
- Apple iPad 2 Thought to be in Production There have been so many rumours surrounding the Apple iPad 2 device that it is actually quite hard to keep up with them. The latest rumour is that the Apple…
- Apple to Offer Free iPhone 4 Cases to Users As soon as the Apple iPhone 4 came out, users started to have problems with dropped calls. No one seemed to know what the problem was, just that they'd be…
- Apple iPhone 5 release to be held back With the recent release of the iPad 2 from Apple, it is thought that Apple will now be working on the release of the iPhone 5 which has been thought…
- How Core ML Will Transform Machine Learning Apps… “This How Core ML Will Transform Machine Learning Apps Development content is for businesses, who are looking forward to developing a machine learning application for their online business. They can…
- 5 Quick Steps to Open Siri on iPhone 4s 5 Quick Steps to Open Siri on iPhone 4s As Apple puts it, a new world of possibilities will be opened to you once you access and open Siri on…
- HP Take on Apple in Tablet Market One of the most innovative and successful products that has been released in the past year has been the Apple iPad device. This has completely changed the way that we…
- BBC Released new iOS Player BBC is one of the most watched TV networks worldwide so for obvious reasons many people enjoy watching it on their iPhone or iPad. Fortunately that became a possibility just…
- Apple Announces Stock Dividends Apple has accumulated a very large amount of cash reserve over the past few years. The continued and massive success of various products is credited with the success and Apple…
